Sibelius and Oramo
Sakari Oramo. Foto: Nadja Sjöström
“With Sibelius I dig deep – ’de profundis’. His music begins deep underground and rises up towards the stars.” Sakari Oramo
Before Grande Finale, Sakari Oramo has conducted Sibelius’ music on 79 occasions with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. This currently makes him the fifth most frequent Sibelius conductor with the orchestra – a list topped by Tor Mann with a total of 170 Sibelius performances with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.
Konserthuset’s large and growing film archive currently contains around 20 concert films with Sakari Oramo leading the orchestra. These include recordings of Sibelius' Symphony No. 3 and Symphony No. 7 with Oramo and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.
To coincide with Grande Finale, all the concerts are livestreamed, and a documentary film about Oramo and Sibelius will be produced at the same time. Read more about this here
Over the years, Sakari Oramo has conducted much of Sibelius’ music with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, but there are no recordings of Sibelius' music with Oramo and the orchestra. However, Oramo’s Sibelius interpretations with other orchestras are available on CD.
Among the early recordings, from the early 2000s with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestras, are all seven symphonies and the orchestral poem Tapiola (published by Erato). There is also the Violin Concerto with Akiko Suwanai with the same orchestra, and this is also available as a recording with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Lisa Batiashvili (Sony Classical). Oramo has also recorded such works as the suite from The Tempest with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra (Ondine).
Sibelius’ compositions conducted by Sakari Oramo with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra
- The Bard, Op. 64
- En saga (A fairy tale), Op. 9
- Finlandia, Op. 26
- Alla marcia from Karelia Suite, Op. 11
- Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47 (soloists: Lisa Batiashvili and Nancy Zhou respectively)
- Kullervo, Op. 7
- Lemminkäinen suite (Four Legends from the Kalevala), Op.22
- Luonnotar for soprano and orchestra, Op. 70 (soloist: Anu Komsi)
- Pelléas and Mélisande, Op. 46
- Pohjola's Daughter, Op. 49
- Rakastava (The Lover), Op. 14
- Symphony No. 1 in E minor, Op. 39
- Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 43
- Symphony No. 3 in C major, Op. 52
- Symphony No. 4 in A minor, Op. 63
- Symphony No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 82
- Symphony No. 6 in D minor, Op. 104
- Symphony No. 7 in C major, Op. 105
- Tapiola, Op. 112
- Valse triste from Kuolema (Death), Op. 44